Choose Bookshops!
Here in England we’ve just entered a second lockdown, with all non-essential shops (including bookshops) closed. But in the approach to Christmas, it’s more important than ever that we keep supporting our wonderful bookshops, if we want to keep them on our high streets!
If you’re in need of lockdown reading material – or if you have Christmas presents to buy – then make sure you check out Waterstones.com (with local shops offering a click and collect service, as well as delivery by post) or your local independent bookshops, most of which will offer books for delivery or collection. (Not sure if you have any independent bookshops locally? Check this list to find your nearest).
You can also now buy books via the brand new uk.bookshop.org which is a socially-conscious alternative to Amazon. It’s a good way to buy books online while helping to support independent bookshops – there are discounts, and books are sent directly to your door, but 10% from every sale goes to independent bookshops.
Even better if you buy directly from an indie’s page they’ll get 30% from the sale – and with bookshops closed for browsing, it’s a wonderful way to find book recommendations. Check out Storytellers Inc, Roundtable Books, Sevenoaks Bookshop or Tales on Moon Lane for some lovely examples. You can also visit my page, where you can find links to all my books.
If you’d like to do more to support independent bookshops (and pick up some very special Christmas treats!) you should also check out #SignForOurBookshops, a new campaign to help bookshops during November.
Instigated by the brilliant Holly Bourne, lots of authors and illustrators are offering signed and personalised bookplates if you buy from a local bookshop. Lizzy Stewart and I are pleased to be offering signed bookplates for copies of our new book A Dancer’s Dream – get yours if you order the book from any of these bookshops (first come, first served!)
- Storytellers Inc
- Chicken & Frog
- Bookseller Crow
- The Book Nook
- Yellow Lighted Bookshop
- Sevenoaks Bookshop
- Ebb & Flo
- Bear Hunt Bookshop
(If any other bookshops would like some signed bookplates please do contact me and let me know!)
In modern-day Venice, brothers Prosper and Boniface are on the run. There’s a detective on their tail, and they’re hiding among the canals and alleyways of the city. Soon they are taken in by a gang of street children and their leader, the mysterious Thief Lord, and find shelter in an old, abandoned cinema.But that’s just the beginning of an extrordinary adventure involving a beautiful merry-go-round with magical powers… This enchanting Venetian fantasy is perfect for readers looking for a story of mystery and magic.
In the sequel to Following Ophelia, a historical YA novel inspired by the Pre-Raphealite painters, we rejoin heroine Mary, formerly a maid, now reinvented as glamorous artist’s model Persephone Lavelle. Setting out from Victorian London to Venice with her friend Kitty, she hopes to escape scandal and gossip. But when she encounters a mysterious masked young man on the Grand Canal, there’s trouble in store… Complete with bohemian artists, Venetian masked balls, and of course, plenty of romance, this is a delightful young adult novel, which will transport you back in time to 19th century Venice.
Author Michelle Lovric has written several books set in Venice, but I’d especially recommend this unusual critically-acclaimed fantasy, which takes place in the same period as Villains in Venice. This is the story of Teo, a young girl who has always longed to visit Venice. But when she finally gets her wish, all kinds of strange things begin to happen to her. Teo is quickly subsumed into a remarkable secret world of ghosts, talking statues, librarians that turn into cats, mermaids that run underground printing presses… and terrible danger. With the help of a Venetian boy, Renzo, and a mysterious book entitled The Key to the Secret City, she soon discovers that she alone has the power to save the floating city from the sinister ‘Traitor’.
The first book in Mary Hoffman’s Stravaganza series introduces us to Lucien – a teenage boy who is dealing with a serious illness. Lucien’s life takes an unexpected turn when an old Italian notebook transports him from his sick-bed to Belezza – a city rather like the Venice of the 16th Century. There he meets Arianna, a girl dressed as a boy who is risking everything in the hope of being chosen as one of the Duchessa’s ‘mandoliers’ and learns that he has become a stravagante – a kind of time traveller. He is soon immersed in the intriguing world of Belezza, becoming a mandolier himself and even saving the Duchessa from an assassination attempt. But what will be the consequences of his remarkable adventures for his life back home? Whilst it isn’t set in Venice itself but an ‘alternate’ version, this engaging fantasy story is full of fascinating detail inspired by the city’s real history.
In this charming magical adventure for young readers, Aribella is the daughter of a lace-maker, growing up on the island of Burano in the Venice lagoon. But Aribella has a deadly and dangerous secret – when she gets angry, sparks shoot from her fingertips! She knows she mustn’t let anyone know about her strange magical powers, yet when dark spectres rise from the lagoon, her abilities save her life. Soon, she has been discovered by the Cannovaci – a society of masked, magical warriors, who have sworn to protect Venice against the dark spirits that menace the city.
Finally, of course, I have to mention 
